2013 Lacrosse BHS - pump runs, but no water at the faucet

[basnappl]

Hello,

I recently bought a used 2013 Forest River Lacross 318BHS. It is quite a camper! I have been slowly getting it ready for a trip next week and today worked on plumbing. The first problem I encountered was water leaking from the forward slide-out after connecting "city" water using a hose. I eventually tracked this down to water leaking out the back of the plastic "city" water connection... I will need to replace this part, I think.

Then, I decided to go ahead and fill the fresh water tank using the no-pressure fill port. I filled until the meter in the bathroom read "F" and closed the fill cap. I then opened all the faucets and turned on the pump. The pump came on but no water appeared after several minutes. I tracked down the pump (under the kitchen sink, behind a board fixed by 2 screws), and it seemed to be running fine. I could hear a faint burbling sound from the kitchen sink. I valved off the water heater, thinking maybe it was the problem; no change. I am worried that my fresh water tank might be cracked. What would y'all suggest as a next step troubleshooting this?

Thank you so much in advance!
basnappl

 

[rracer5]

Hello,

I recently bought a used 2013 Forest River Lacross 318BHS. It is quite a camper! I have been slowly getting it ready for a trip next week and today worked on plumbing. The first problem I encountered was water leaking from the forward slide-out after connecting "city" water using a hose. I eventually tracked this down to water leaking out the back of the plastic "city" water connection... I will need to replace this part, I think.

Then, I decided to go ahead and fill the fresh water tank using the no-pressure fill port. I filled until the meter in the bathroom read "F" and closed the fill cap. I then opened all the faucets and turned on the pump. The pump came on but no water appeared after several minutes. I tracked down the pump (under the kitchen sink, behind a board fixed by 2 screws), and it seemed to be running fine. I could hear a faint burbling sound from the kitchen sink. I valved off the water heater, thinking maybe it was the problem; no change. I am worried that my fresh water tank might be cracked. What would y'all suggest as a next step troubleshooting this?

Thank you so much in advance!
basnappl

First, check to make sure that the winterization valves are not in bypass mode, If they are, the pump won't suck from the tank.

If the tank were cracked, then you would be leaking water from under the trailer.

Once you "fix" the city water inlet port & introduce water to the system, it may help "prime" the system and the pump...as long as the winterization valves are NOT in bypass mode.

Good luck & keep us informed of your solution.

 

[basnappl]

Thanks for the reply rracer5!

OK, so I managed to solve the city-water leak by sticking an extra rubber hose gasket in it to increase the sealing surface. I got water coming out of every spigot with the city water hooked up, which is great! It appears there aren't any leaks.

Now, as for "winterization" valving, I do not see anything about that in my manual. There are no valves near the inlet ports. There are only city water hookup, fresh water fill port, and then a hot/cold valve for the "outdoor rinse" faucet. I do have a bunch of valves near the pump (under the kitchen sink). There are two "inlet" lines, each with a valve. I'm guessing one is from FW tank, the other is from city water. They merge and enter the pump. Then, on the outflow side, there are valves for in & out of the hot water heater, as well as a bypass valve for the hotwater heater (that connects the inlet to the outlet of the heater). I currently have the heater valved off and the bypass open and both inlet valves open. Does that sound right? Could it be that my pump is bad? It sounds like it is running alright, but I figure it could be a tear in the diaphram?

Thanks so much!

Edit to include a picture of what I'm working with:
My inlet panel looks like this:
https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51sHOSRis8L._AC_SL1200_.jpg

 

[Mokurt]

Our 2018 Tracer has the same outside inlet like the pic you posted.No winterization there.

Near the water pump I believe there are two valves...one with an open end hose to place in anti freeze bottles for winterization and another that shuts off the city water line when using the pump.

There will be I think two more valves near the water heater for bypassing it.

Then outside near the water connections there are 3 valves...one for draining the fresh water tank and two for cold and hot low point drains.

If you go to the forest River website there is a winterization instruction manual you can download.It may be a little generic.

 

[rracer5]

Our 2018 Tracer has the same outside inlet like the pic you posted.No winterization there.

Near the water pump I believe there are two valves...one with an open end hose to place in anti freeze bottles for winterization and another that shuts off the city water line when using the pump.

There will be I think two more valves near the water heater for bypassing it.

Then outside near the water connections there are 3 valves...one for draining the fresh water tank and two for cold and hot low point drains.

If you go to the forest River website there is a winterization instruction manual you can download.It may be a little generic.

X2, this may be where your issue lies.

 

[basnappl]

Thank you both! You are correct, there is an open-ended tube. Unfortunately, even after I valved it off (leaving the other valve open), I get no water at the tap, just a burbling sound. The other thing I found was that the strainer before the pump was all gunked up with slime. I tried a variety of things to clean it (rinsing with hose, vinegar, etc), until I tried dunking it in boiling water, which not only didn't work, it also deformed the plastic

Anyway, I have purchased a replacement Shurflo pump and strainer for $60 and will attempt to replace them both today. If it still doesn't work, do y'all think I'd be correct in assuming I must have a leak somewhere in the line connecting the FW tank to the pump?

Thank you so much for taking the time to help me!

 

[Mokurt]

Anyway, I have purchased a replacement Shurflo pump and strainer for $60 and will attempt to replace them both today. If it still doesn't work, do y'all think I'd be correct in assuming I must have a leak somewhere in the line connecting the FW tank to the pump?

We bought our trailer used.
First time I went to use the water pump it did not work.

So I also bought the replacement Shurflo pump same model number as the original.
I installed the new water pump and it also did not work.
I wired it like the original and attached the hoses the same way.

I looked at the instructions again seeing that there was an arrow showing the flow.
The original water hoses were hooked up backwards!

 

[basnappl]

I looked at the instructions again seeing that there was an arrow showing the flow.
The original water hoses were hooked up backwards!

That's hilarious!! How could the previous owners not have noticed that?!

In my case, though, I have verified that the side that goes to the water heater, etc is where the arrow on the pump is pointing!

 

[basnappl]

Well, bad news. I swapped out the pump and the strainer, hooked it all back up and powered it on: same result. Also, when I checked the FW tank level on the meter in the bathroom, it is now reading only 1/3 full! It was essentially 100% full last time I interacted with it. To be clear, this is with no city water hooked up and the valves under the sink thus: winterizer tube valved off, other pump inlet valve open (from FW tank), hot water heater bypassed (i.e., in & out closed and bypass open).

It's the darnedest thing, though... I do not see any evidence of leakage by inspecting the bottom. My next step will be to remove anything from the bottom of the trailer that might give me a peak inside without damaging the corrugated plastic bottom or any seals. If I can't figure anything from there, I might need to go ahead and break stuff to figure it out, but it'll have to wait until after our trip (leaving after church Sunday). Any suggestions would be much appreciated! I just need some help thinking this through. If I can't solve it in the next couple of days, I guess we'll just bring a bunch of gallon water jugs!

Thanks all!

 

[Dwilcox]

You might try to pull water from the anti-freeze feed hose to give it a quick prime. if you can post a photo of the pump and related pipe / valves it would allow us to see what you are dealing with. sounds like you have the same setup as we do, pump and water heater under kitchen sink behind panel.
It sounds to me like you are sucking air from somewhere.
Dale